Blast-furnace.



C. HICKS.4

BLAST PUENACE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.15,1912.

Patented sepnzll, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1v TIELL v fa C. HICKS.

BLAST FURNACE.

APPLICATION ULEB APR.15.1012.

Patented Sept. 24, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

@zwi/linnen y 0. HICKS.

BLAST FURNAOE.

AP'PLIGATION FILED 111111.15, 1912.

'Patented Sept 24, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

mitmcooszo CALVIN HICKS, OF AUBURN, PENNSYLVANIA.

BLAST-FURNACE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 24, 1912.

Application filed April 15, 1912. Serial No. 690,878.

To (1U ltti/mm, iii may come/"it:

Be it known that I. CALvIN HICKS, a c1t1- Zen of the United States, residing aty Auburn, in the county of Schuylkill, State of Penn- Sylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Blast- Furnaces; and I do hereby declare the followingr to be a full, clear, and exact description of. the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to blast furnaces. The object. of the invention resides in tho provision of a construction for etlecting the cooling of the furnace wall throughout. the entire. extent or' the latter and which will at all times perlnit the tlow ot' Water therethrough to be observed by the furnace tender f so that he may know that the highest. etti ciencv of the system is beine; maintained.

A still further object o the invention resides in constructing the upper end of the .furnace wall of a plurality of hollow castings in position to receive the impact ot' stock ore and other products as they are fed to the furnace whereby Wear of the tornati wall is prevented.

IVith the above and other objects in vievv, the invention consists ir. the details of construction and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more full y described and `particularly pointed 'out in the appended claims.

In describing the invention in detail, rei" erenee will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters ol` roten ence denote corresponding parts in the several views, and ii: which"- Figure 1 a vertical section of a blast furnace constructed in accordance with the invention, Fig. i), a section on the line Q-l of Fig. 1, Fig, 3, a section on the line BNS of Fig. 1, Fig. 4. a section on the line #et of Fig. 1, lig. 3, a view partly in elevation and partly in section ot' the lower layer ot' portion of the furnace, Fig. 6, a detail perspective view of one of the members einployed in constructing the water jacket of the cooling system which surround the intermediate and lower portions of the wall of the furnace, Fig. 7, a detail perspective view of one of the intermediate layer hollow castings employed in constructing the upper portion of the wall of the furnace, Fig. 8, al detail perspective view of one of the key lower layer hollow castings employed in constructing the upper portion of the wall of the furnace. Fig. 9, an enlarged section on the line 99 ot Fig. Q. Fig. 1li, a section on the line IOMIO of 1 Referring to the drawings, the furnace 1s shown as supported upon columns 1() which 'are in turn sustained b v a foundation 1l.. Carried upon the upper ends of the columns 10 is a mantel 12 which supports the upwardly converging wall A of the furnace, the lower portion 14 of which is ot the usual fire brick cormtzuelion and has its upper end beveled inwardly as at 15 to forni a seat for the metallic portion of the wail A which is disposed b'etvveen the upper beveled end 15 and the hopper 15.

The metallic portion of the Wall A is ormed of a plurality of hollow segmental castings arranged in horizontal layers. In thisl instance the metallic portion of the wall A is shown as formed of Vthree horizontal layers of castings', the uppermost and intermediate l-ajvers being constructed of castings 17 and i8 respectively; One of the castings l? is provided with a walled aperture therethrough into which the dovvncomer 1G projects and is secured, said downcomer being oli'` a construction common to furnaces of this type, Each casting 17 of the upper layer is formed with a flange 19 at its lower end and has its upper end beveled as at Q0, the beveled upper ends of all the castings 17 registering to forni a seat for the hopper i5. The castings 17 are of such sha ie superlicially as to properly complete t e upper end of the wall ot the furnace. The castings 17 are further provided at each .side with outwardly diret ted [langes 21 and adjarent flanges 2l are suitably connected together by bolts Q3.

The castings 18 are each provided atl their upper and lower ends with outwardly directed flanges 24 and Q5 respectively, the

y flange 21 of each casting 18 being connected hollow castings which constitutes the topl to the flange. 15) ot' the section 17 next. above by means of bolts Q6. The castings 18 are further provided at each side with flanges 21 and adjacent flanges 24 are connected together by bolts Q5. It Will be here noted that the castings 17 and 18 are each provided at their upper ends with discharge openings 27 and Q8 respectively and at thelr lower ends With intake openings 29 and 30 respectively. The lower layer of castings of the upper portionof the wall 0f the furnace is formed successively large and small as at 30 and 81 respectively. The lower ends` of all of these castings 30 and 31 are beveled as at 32 so to seat snugly upon the beveled upper end 15 of the lower portion 14 of the furnace wall. Each of the castings 30 and 31 is provided in its upper end with a discharge opening 33 and further provided with an intake opening 84 disposed beneath the opening 33 in vertical alinement with the latter. The castings 30" and 31 are each provided at their upper ends with an outwardly directed flange 36 which is secured to the flange 25 of the section 18 next above by means of bolts 87. These castings 30 and 3l. are also provided at their sides with outwardly directed flanges 38 and the adjacent flanges 38 of said castings 30 and 31. are connected together by means of bolts,

39. The castings 30 and 31 are further provided intermediate their upper and lower ends with outwardly directed hori-V zontal flanges 40 for a purpose that will presently appear. furnace wall is surrounded by a shell 41 the upper end of which is provided with an outwardly directed flange 42 upon which rests the flanges 40 of the castings 30 and 31, said flange 42 thus serving to support the castings 17, 18, 30 and fil. The shell 41 of the furnace is provided with a plurality of spaced horizontal projections or flanges and between each adjacent pair of llanges 43 .is secured a plurality of plates ll disposed in spaced relation to the shell frll. Each ofthe plates .44 is of the necessary arcuate formation and has its sides and ends formed with out f'ardly extending flanges 45 and ylll respectively provided with bolt receiving apertureswhereby said plates may be secured together side by side and each plate positively secured to the flanges lil by means of bolts 47. As many of the. plates 44 as desired are provided with intake and discharge openings t8 and 4l) respectively for attachment to suitable intake and discharge elements to supply a current ot water in the space between the shell itl and the plates tl.

Disposed around the furnace aty its upper end is a supply main 5() from which depends a plurality of feed pipes 51. A plurality of branch pipes 52 connect the feed pipes 5l with the intake openings of the castings l?, 18, 30 and Il. and with the intake openings of thi` plates -llresIwetively. lit will be noted that the 'feed pipes 51 decrease in diameter downwardly as the number of cool ing` compartments which it is called upon to supply at a given point, decreases. The various branch pipes 52 are controlled by means of valves 5?, thus enabling the furnace tender to easily and quickly regulate the flow of water from the feed pipes .El to the interior of the castings 17, 18, 30 and The portion 14 of the 3l and the spaces between the shell 41 and plates 4l. Surrounding the furnace at its lower end is a discharge main 54 which has extending vertically therefrom a lurality of drain pipes A plurality 0l) branch drain pipes 56 connect the drain pipes 55 with the discharge openings of the castings 17, 18, 30 and 31 and with the discharge openings of the plates 44 respectively. It will be noted that the drain pipes 55 increase in diameter in a downward direction as the number of branch drain pipes discharging therein increases. The openings in the drain pipes 55 which receive the ends of the branch drain pipes 56 are larger in diameter than said branch pipes so as to permit the furnace tender to observe at all times if the water is discharging properly from the various cooling compartments vof the system. lt will of course be understood that the supply main 5() is suitably connected with a water supply while the discharge main 54 is provided with an outletwliereby the water beiner fed thereto may be conveniently carried o Supported upon the mantel 12 in vertical alinement with the columns 10 'are columns 5T which rise to the upper end ofthe furnace. Each of these colun'tns 57 support a plurality of brackets 58 positioned at corresponding g points on respective columns 57 and the brackets 58 disposed at corresponding points on the various columns 57 support respectively landings or platforms 59 and these various landings or platforn'is are connected by suitable stairways` ot). ly this arrangement of platforms and stair 'ays the furnace tender can easily reach and inspect all ofthe pii'iing of the cooling system.

The castings 18 are provided intermediate the llanges 24 and 25 with outwardly disposed projections til which form a Seat for a strengthening band tti surrouiuling the easti ings 18. ln addition to the band (l2 the various castings 17. 18. 80 and 3l are strengthened by means of integral braces (33 for led in the interior of rcspf. rc castings.

The operation of the cooling system here iirflescxibed will be obvious. it being sutilcicnt lo say that during the operationvof the system water will discharge from the main 5t) into the various supply pipes 51, from whence itV will flow through the branch pipes 32 into the lower portion of thc castings 17, 18.y 30 and 31 and into the lower portion of 120 the space between the shell Lll and plates 44. The water will then discharge from the upper portion of the various castings and from the upper portion of the space between the shell itl and plates lfl through the branch 125 drain pipes 5f? into the drain pipe 55 and thence into the dischargf.: :nain 5ft from, where it is carried olf through a suitable outlet.

lt will be noted that the upper castings 17 130 are bound against the lower end of the hop` per 15 by means of a band 64, said band serving to effectually hold the castings 17 in proper relation and to strengthen the structure generally.

What is claimed is:

1. A blast furnace having the lower portion of its wall formed solid and the upper portion of said wall constructed of a plurality of hollow castings disposed one upon the other, a water jacket surrounding the lowl portion of the furnace and formed with a plurality of superimposed independent compartments, a cooling fluid supply main surrounding the upper end of the furnace, connections between said supply mai. and the lower portions of the interior of the hollow castings and the compartments of said water jacket respectively, a dischar e main surrounding the lower portion of the furnace and connections between said discharge main and the upper portions of the interior of the hollow castings and the compartments of said water jacket respectively.

2. A blast furnace having the lower portion of its wall formed solid and the upper portion of said wall constructed of a plurality of hollow castings disposed one upon the other, a water jacket surrounding the lower portion of the furnace and formed with a plurality of superimposed independent compartments, a cooling fluid supply main surrounding the upper end of the furnace, feed pipes depending from said supply main, branch pipes connecting said feed ipes with the lower portion of the interior of3 said castings and with the lower portion of the compartments of the water jacket, a discharge main surrounding the lower portion of the furnace, drain pipes extending verticall from said discharge main, and branch drain pipes connecting said drain pipes with the upper portion of the interior of the castings and the upper portion of the compartments of the water jacket.

3. A blast furnace having the lower portion of its wall formed solid, and the upper portion of said wall constructed of a plurality of hollow castings disposed one upon the other, a water jacket surrounding the lower portion of the furnace and formed with a plurality of superimposed independent compartments, a cooling fluid supply main surrounding the upper side of the furnace, feed pipes depending from said supply main and' decreasing in diameter at spaced points ina downward direction, branch pipes connecting said feed pipes with the lower portion of the interior of said castings and with the lower portions ofthe compartments of the water jacket, a discharge main surrounding the lower portion of the furnace, drain pipes extending vertically from said 'discharge main and decreasing in diamcter'at spaced points in an upward direction, and branch drain .pipes connecting said drain pipes with the upper portion of the interior of the castings and the upper portion of the compartments of the water jacket.

4. A blast furnace havin the lower portion of its wall formed solid, and the upper portion of said wall constructed of a plurality of hollow castings disposed one upon the other, a water jacket surrounding the lower portion of the furnace and formed with a plurality of superimposed independent compartments, a plurality of columns surrounding said furnace, platforms supported by said columns at spaced points respectively,

stairways connecting said platforms, and

pipe connections for effecting a current of water through the interior of the castings and the compartments of the water jacket, said pipe connections being accessible from said platforms.

In testimony whereof, I atiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

CALVIN HICKS.

lrVitnesses WILLIAM Snirr* IRWIN DnLoN 

